Western New York football fans can breathe a sigh of relief: the Bills are staying in Buffalo, thanks to the successful bid for the team placed by Terry and Kim Pegula.
Following Bills owner Ralph Wilson’s death last March, the future of the Bills was uncertain. The late Ralph Wilson was the founder and owner of the Bills for 54 years, until his death at age 95. Top contenders for ownership of the Bills included not only Buffalo Sabres owner and natural resource development businesspeople, Terry and Kim Pegula, but also multibillionaire and television personality Donald Trump and former rockstar Jon Bon Jovi.
Much to the consternation of many Buffalonians, the latter contender was reported to be working with investors in Toronto—giving rise to fears that Bon Jovi’s plans were to eventually move the football team there. (Bon Jovi later denied these reports.) However, western New Yorkers were relieved at the news that the Pegulas—favorites because of their deep ties to Western New York and commitment to the area—won the bid at $1.4 billion.
The Pegulas announced their bid, an all-cash purchase, on September 9 when the National Football League’s (NFL’S) finance committee met with the Pegulas. The committee unanimously accepted the Pegulas’ offer to become the next owners of the football team. The Pegulas final ownership approval will be voted during a meeting of the full ownership of the league next week, on October 8. The Buffalo News reported from a source, who was a former finance committee executive for the NFL, that the full ownership rarely, if ever, goes against the recommendation of the finance committee. The Pegulas, then, are posed to pass the October 8 vote.
Said Terry Pegula in a statement reported by ESPN on September 9:
“Our interest in owning the Bills has everything to do with the people of Western New York and our passion for football. We have knowledgeable, dedicated fans here and along with our ownership of the Buffalo Sabres, it is gratifying to reassure these great fans that two franchises so important to our region are both here to stay.”
As the Houghton Star reported in 2012, the Pegulas made their billions through a natural resource development firm named East Resources Inc., founded in 1983, that owned acres of shale oil and gas across several states, including New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Prior to the bid for the Bills, in August the Pegulas sold 75,000 acres of Utica and Marcellus Shale leases in West Virginia and Ohio for $1.75 billion. The Pegulas still retain some natural gas resources, but in recent years (particularly after a larger sale of their natural resources in 2010) they have pivoted toward entertainment and real estate investment.
The Buffalo Bills have played in western New York since they were established as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. The Bills later joined the National Football League (NFL) following the AFL-NFL merge in 1970.